Intralesional therapy ‘here to stay’ for melanoma

Source: Healio.com, March 2016

NEW YORK — There are many ongoing monotherapy and combination trials of oncolytic agents, according to a speaker at HemOnc Today Melanoma and Cutaneous Malignancies.

“The idea is, you have a tumor, and if it’s reachable by a needle and unresectable — and arguably, even resectable — can you make the tumor your ally to be able to treat it directly, and then potentially to combine it with other agents?” Sanjiv S. Agarwala, MD, professor of medicine at Temple University School of Medicine, chief of oncology and hematology at St. Luke’s Cancer Center, and a HemOnc Today Editorial Board member, said during his presentation.

Monotherapy trials

Ongoing monotherapy trials of oncolytic agents include those for PV-10 (Provectus), interleukin-12 (IL-12) and coxsackievirus type A21 (Cavatak, Viralytics).